{"id":18372,"date":"2026-09-11T17:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=18372"},"modified":"2026-09-11T17:13:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T21:13:53","slug":"season-of-creation-natures-surprise-in-a-war-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/season-of-creation-natures-surprise-in-a-war-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"Season of Creation: Nature\u2019s Surprise in a War Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Boris Chemanov was growing up in Klepaly, a village in Ukraine\u2019s Sumy region near the Russian border, the Seym River was woven into everyday life. For generations, it had been at the heart of his family\u2019s existence \u2014 a source of food and water that sustained gardens, cattle and a way of life.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then, in August 2024, thousands of tons of waste from a sugar factory in Russia were discharged into the Seym, sending a massive wave of pollution downstream into Ukraine<\/a>. Ukrainian officials described the poisoning as another act of environmental warfare. Oxygen levels collapsed, fish died en masse and the water turned almost black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe river looked dead,\u201d Mr. Chemanov recalls. \u201cWe thought it would not recover for five or even 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years later, he says, the Seym is alive again. \u201cNature surprised all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regional authorities say mortality of fish and other aquatic life approached 100 percent; more than 12 tons of dead fish were collected and buried. Environmental damage was estimated at about $1.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across Ukraine, environmental losses from Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion have exceed $157 billion, with more than a quarter of the country\u2019s ecosystems affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A man watches as a paint and coatings production facility in the outskirts of Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, burns after it was struck in a Russian drone attack on 2 September. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Ukrainian environmentalists, the Seym is part of a broader pattern of wartime destruction. Ukrainian ecologist Oleksii Vasyliuk<\/a>, head of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group<\/a>, has spent years documenting acts of destruction capable of eliminating entire ecosystems and the conditions that sustain life, which he defines as ecocide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He points to Russia\u2019s destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023 as a clear example. The resulting flood covered roughly 230 square miles of Kherson region, while the draining of the reservoir exposed more than 386 square miles of its former bed. As the reservoir emptied, aquatic organisms were swept downstream; others living on its bottom were stranded on dry land. An influx of fresh water disrupted marine life in the Black Sea \u2014 much of it during breeding season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the exposed bed of the Kakhovka Reservoir, willow and poplar forests characteristic of the Dnipro River\u2019s former floodplain have begun to regenerate naturally. In Mr. Vasyliuk\u2019s view, their area might already exceed the total area of new forests planted across Europe over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNature knows what to do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This does not diminish the catastrophe. It raises another question: Must every altered landscape be reconstructed exactly as it was, or should natural recovery sometimes be allowed to take its course?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the most dangerous damage may be invisible. Explosions, fires and destroyed industrial sites can leave toxic substances in soil and groundwater for years. Heavy metals do not simply break down: Lead remains lead, potentially lingering long after the fighting ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Serhii and Halyna Rudenko stand amid the ruins of their property in the village of Myla, Kyiv region. On 2 September, an ammunition depot nearby detonated after being hit by a Russian drone. The explosions killed 38 people and destroyed dozens of homes, gardens and orchards. Air, soil and groundwater around the blast site were contaminated by explosives, combustion residues and unexploded munitions. (photo: Anna Klochko) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For years, farmer Yevhenii Vlasenko has worked to restore his soil through no-till farming. Since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion, around 10 drones and missiles have fallen on his fields, sometimes setting crop residue ablaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I had spent years protecting could be damaged in seconds,\u201d he says.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Vlasenko has sent soil samples for analysis. A biolaboratory is studying whether biological treatments can restore soil fertility after explosions, which can leave heavy metals that may contaminate crops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A house can be rebuilt while the land beneath it remains contaminated. Reconstruction does not necessarily mean recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor does environmental damage respect borders. Air carries pollution, rivers carry contaminants, and the Black Sea connects several countries. Migratory birds wintering on Ukraine\u2019s coast may breed in northern Europe or continue toward Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere can be no non-global environmental consequences,\u201d Mr. Vasyliuk says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the front line, birds have been found weaving fiber-optic cables left by drones into their nests \u2014 another residue of war entering the natural environment.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For Volodymyr Sheremeta, head of the Bureau for Ecology of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, this interconnectedness is also a matter of faith. The world, he says, is not simply humanity\u2019s common home, but God\u2019s creation, in which every creature has value, and harm to one part ultimately reaches others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image recalls St. Paul\u2019s words in Romans about all creation \u201cgroaning\u201d \u2014 a biblical metaphor made tangible by a war that has scarred Ukraine\u2019s land, water and ecosystems. Mr. Sheremeta describes such destruction as \u201ca sin against God\u2019s creation,\u201d as well as against people and future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries and fuel depots raise a difficult moral question: Can environmental harm be justified when the target sustains an aggressor\u2019s war? Mr. Sheremeta says teachings about \u201cjust war\u201d require weighing both intention and consequence. Ukraine has the right to defend human life, he argues, but remains obliged to minimize environmental harm whenever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it is possible to achieve the same goal of self-defense and the preservation of life with fewer consequences for the environment, the ethical obligation is to choose that path,\u201d Mr. Sheremeta says.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the Zaporizhzhia region, the war and the loss of the Kakhovka Reservoir have deepened existing water shortages. With support from Caritas Norway and funding from Norad, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Caritas Zaporizhzhia is restoring decentralized water supplies by repairing wells and water towers and installing filtration systems, including equipment for a children\u2019s hospital dialysis unit. In communities that have absorbed large numbers of displaced people, safe water can determine whether families are able to stay and rebuild rather than move again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fishermen
Fishermen cast a net during an early morning fishing trip on the Black Sea in Odesa region. Ukraine\u2019s freshwater system has been contaminated by environmental warfare, although locals say some bodies of water have been able to regenerate. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Sheremeta says reconstruction cannot stop with roads and buildings. Clean water, safe soil and a healthy environment are inseparable from the rights to life and health. Rebuilding outdated, environmentally harmful infrastructure in the name of speed, he warns, would only continue \u201cviolence against God\u2019s creation\u201d in another form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine will have to rebuild what war has destroyed<\/a>, but recovery, Mr. Sheremeta argues, cannot be measured only in reconstructed homes and infrastructure; it also must restore the living world on which those homes depend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world is one integral organism in which everything is interconnected,\u201d he says.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
This rare, six-sailed, 19th-century windmill in Pustoviitivka, Sumy region, once used to grind grain, is now preserved as a historic landmark. (photo: Anna Klochko) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
A rose bush grows by the entrance to the historic Orthodox Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Romny, Sumy region. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The property of residents in Myla, Kyiv region, were burned, after a Russian drone attack detonated an ammunition depot nearby on 2 September. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Residents of Myla, Kyiv region, clear debris in their yard after a Russian drone attack on 2 September. The explosions killed 38 people and destroyed dozens of homes. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
A burnt-out car and a charred garage are among the property damage sustained by residents in Myla, Kyiv region, after a Russian drone attack on 2 September (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Serhii and Halyna Rudenko stand amid the ruins of their property in Myla, Kyiv region, on 2 September. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Fishermen pull in their net during an early morning fishing trip on the Black Sea in Odesa region. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Fishermen assess their catch after an early morning fishing trip on the Black Sea in Odesa region. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Two storks sit in their nest on a utility pole in Pustoviitivka, Sumy region. Birds have been found weaving fiber-optic cables left by drones into their nests. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Ukraine\u2019s famous wheat fields have been set on fire by the Russian military as a tactic of war. The Kherson Regional Military Administration estimates the total area of lost and unharvested crops in Ukraine due to the war in 2026 at 37,000 acres. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Part of Halyna Rudenko\u2019s garden and vegetable patch in Myla, Kyiv region, survived the destruction caused by a Russian drone attack on 2 September. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
A girl hugs a baby goat at the \u201cKozy ta Matrosy,\u201d goat-therapy center in Odesa region, which has closed since the photo was taken. (photo: Anna Klochko)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Russia-Ukraine war has damaged rivers and forests. In some areas, damaged rivers and forests are starting to regenerate on their own. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70080,"featured_media":18373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3084,3083,70],"class_list":["post-18372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-responding-to-human-needs","category-advocating-for-justice-peace","category-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeason of Creation: Nature\u2019s Surprise in a War Zone | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Russia-Ukraine war has damaged rivers and forests. 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